Addressing New Business Analytics Challenges: When the IBM zEnterprise Really Makes Sense

Overview: In this paper, we will use a definition of business analytics (BA) paraphrased from Wikipedia, to with: the process of developing optimal or realistic business decision recommendations insights derived through the application of statistical modeling and analysis of an existing or simulated database. The analytics may be simple or extremely complex, and may range from addressing immediate operational (tactical) needs to the less urgent development of a strategic plan. The ultimate goal of BA is to gain competitive advantage and to optimize business outcomes. This is a significantly broader definition of what has been traditionally known in the past as business intelligence, most notably data mining or data warehous-ing, as these concepts now are subsumed into business analytics.